The Delaware-based brewery announced today that it will start a soft rollout into Tennessee with Memphis and Chattanooga up first. Dogfish Head will team with Budweiser of Memphis and Carter Distributing in Chattanooga to restart distribution in Tennessee.

Since last summer, when we announced that Dogfish was headed back to the four states we pulled out of in 2011, we’ve been grateful for all of the anticipation, kind words and patience from the craft beer community. Today, for all of the Dogfish fans in Tennessee, we can finally say … we’re back!

We’re starting a soft rollout into Tennessee with Memphis and Chattanooga, with our eye on filling out the state in the coming months.

“We did a ton of research before moving forward to come back to Tennessee,” says Dogfish Head Founder and President Sam Calagione. “We wanted to make sure we had the right partners, and I’m excited that we’ll be working with Bud of Memphis and Carter Distributing in Chattanooga.”

To find Dogfish Head beers in your area, try the Fish Finder at dogfish.com. You can search by beer and by ZIP code, and the Fish Finder will tell you where shipments have dropped in the past 60 days. Our trucks bound for Tennessee are leaving Delaware this week, beer should be appearing on shelves and taps in Memphis & Chatanooga (and the Fish Finder) over the next few weeks.

Dogfish Head is also now back in Rhode Island and parts of Indiana and Wisconsin. We are still working hard to find the right partners to fill out Indiana and Wisconsin and expect to be statewide in both in the coming months.

Expanded capacity is allowing Dogfish Head to make a return to shelves and taps in Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin and Rhode Island before the end of the year, the Delaware-based microbrewery announced today.

Here’s the full press release, as well as a video from founder Sam Calagione:

In 2011, we made the difficult decision to scale back Dogfish Head’s distribution. With a heavy heart, we stopped sending beer to Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin and Rhode Island.

It wasn’t our goal to upset Dogfish Head fans and distributors, but with demand so far in front of supply, we just couldn’t brew enough beer. We were left with a choice: leave shelves empty and frustrate beer enthusiasts everywhere, or stay true to our off-centered roots, pull back, and focus on strong, smart growth.

We chose the latter, and although it caused some short-term disappointment, we’re glad we did. Dogfish Head is still family owned, we still brew 100 percent of our off-centered ales ourselves here in coastal Delaware, and we’re continuing to change the way people think about beer.

We have maintained double-digit growth in the past few years while investing in our brewery to increase capacity beyond the 200,000-bbl pace we are now at. This expansion will be completed in a few months, and we’ll finally have the capacity to reopen the markets we had to pull out of. We’re happy to announce that we’ll be hunting for distribution partners and regional sales managers in those four states and plan to be on shelves and taps there before the end of the year.

Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione poured beer this past weekend at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and the Grateful Dead are collaborating on the latest music-inspired ale that will be released next year. “American Beauty,” a strong pale ale, will feature all-American hops and a special ingredient that fans will help select.

Here’s the full press release:

Dogfish, Grateful Dead brewing grassroots collaboration

(Milton, DE) – Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Grateful Dead, two pioneers who built their followings by connecting directly with beer lovers and music lovers, are collaborating on the newest beer in Dogfish’s line of off-centered ales.

Working in that happy place between creative ideas and like-minded people, the off-centered brewery and free-spirited band have been trading ideas for a beer they’re calling “American Beauty.” They’ve settled on a strong pale ale with all-American hops and barley, and now they’re asking their loyal fans to suggest a special ingredient – and the Dead-inspired story behind it.

“Grateful Dead Productions is extremely pleased to be partnering with Dogfish Head Craft Brewery on the American Beauty pale ale. We’ve looked for a long while for the perfect brewery to team up with for a Grateful Dead-inspired brew, and feel we’ve finally found the right fit. Aside from Dogfish’s history with music-themed brews, we love their beer, and think it’s the best around. Plus, these are really good people and are the type of folks we want to work with,” says David Lemieux, legacy manager for Grateful Dead.

“The feedback the band got from Dead Heads was always an important factor in their shows,” says Dogfish Founder and President Sam Calagione. “And at Dogfish, we’ve always thought of our pub regulars and brewery tour guests as an informal focus group, so we’re sending a shout out to all those Dead Heads and Dogfish Heads by making them a driving force behind this beer.”

Did you trade a bushel of fresh clementines for tickets to a two-night-stand at Long Beach Arena? Or maybe your dad first laid eyes on your mom sipping a cup of green tea in the parking lot of the legendary Cornell ‘77 show? Jog your memory, tell the story, and suggest the ingredient at the heart of that story. You could help bring this counterculture collaboration to life.

Suggestions for American Beauty’s final ingredient will be taken online in December. A panel from the Dogfish Head and Grateful Dead teams will pick the ingredient they feel works best in the context of a strong pale ale recipe. The brewery and band hope to invite the fan who suggested the ingredient to Dogfish’s coastal Delaware brewpub in the spring of 2013 to help brew a test batch.

“My wife, Mariah, and I went to our first Dead show together in the summer of ‘91,” says Calagione, “and I’ve been listening to Workingman’s Dead and Shakedown Street, two of the earliest albums I ever owned, on my morning kayak trips. It’s amazing how timeless those albums are.”

American Beauty is expected to hit taps and shelves throughout Dogfish’s 27-state distribution network in October 2013. Stay tuned to www.dogfish.com for details on how to be a part of this grassroots brew.